Rock classic /// Queen “Bohemian Rhapsody”

The star of the legendary British band Queen shone brightly but, unfortunately, not for a very long time. Just as a real music diamond the band left a sign in the history of world rock music, sometimes breaking the limits of notions how music should be made. From the very first days of Queen the musicians were determined to succeed at the world level: only first places in charts without any escuses. The motto of the Queen frontman Freddie Mercury always was: «hope for the better, aim to the top». And that was the reason why they always followed their own path in music without paying attention to any difficulties on their way.

Queen signed to EMI in 1973 – two years after the band was set up. 1975 became a very important year for the band because in 1975 one of the best rock singles of all times «Bohemian Rhapsody» was released. This song was initially difficult to work at. Freddie Mercury wanted to make it a sophisticated opera-rock composition with complicated vocals and musical parts. Queen worked immensely hard at it and due to the fact that back then music was recorded on tape, it made the process a hundred times more difficult. Nevertheless these efforts were worth the final results! With the help of BBC Radio 1 DJ “Bohemian Rhapsody” got a massive airplay on radio and when it was released as a single (which

EMI managers were reluctant to do having considered the song commercially inappropriate), it got to the first place in UK charts and spent the whole 9 weeks there!!! The followed-up video for the song which was novice and daring back then only made the positions of the song firmer by gaining constant airing on music channels.

The question about what’s behind the lyrics of «Bohemian Rhapsody» can only be answered by the late Freddie Mercury. But once he offered not to try and find some epic sense and hidden messages in his lyrics claiming that he was making music for fun only. «I don’t want to change the world with mu music» Freddie said. Nevertheless it would be fair to say that he, in fact, managed to do it…

Facts about «Bohemian Rhapsody»

the song received an Ivor Novello award in 1975

оit was nominated as «The Best Record of the Past 25 Years» by British Phonographic Industry

“Bohemian Rhapsody” repeated its success after Freddie Mercury’s death

it became the only song in the history of British rock which repeated its success unchanged and not remastered

it cost the band 4500 pounds to shoot the video for “Bohemian Rhapsody”